-Jon Irenicus
Just as it is sometimes argued that Christ cannot die in our stead, it is also argued that his righteousness cannot be imputed to us (Hi, Nick!). There is objection to the idea that we can bear his righteousness. One person cannot be good in behalf of another. We are totally responsible for ourselves. Transferring credit, as it were, from one person to another is a very external and formal type of transaction, quite inappropriate in the matter of our spiritual standing before God.
This objection would be to considerable extent valid if our relationship with Christ were this detached and he were quite aloof from us. It would be as if a total stranger paid the fine of a convicted criminal.
But such is not the case with believers for we are actually united with Christ. As we will see even more completely when we examine the doctrine of justification, the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and of what was accomplished by the atonement, is not an arm's-length transaction. Rather, it is a matter of two, Christ and the believer, becoming ONE in the sight of God. Hence, Paul is able to speak of the believer's having died with Christ and having made alive with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4).
It is as if, with respect to one's spiritual status, a new entity has come into being. It is as if CHrist and I have been married, or have merged to for a new corporation. Thus, the imputation of his righteousness is not so much a matter of transferring something from one person to another, as it is a matter of bringing the two together, so that they hold all things in common.
In Christ I died on the cross, and in him I was resurrected. Thus, his death is not merely in my place, but with me.
____________
Just as it is sometimes argued that Christ cannot die in our stead, it is also argued that his righteousness cannot be imputed to us (Hi, Nick!). There is objection to the idea that we can bear his righteousness. One person cannot be good in behalf of another. We are totally responsible for ourselves. Transferring credit, as it were, from one person to another is a very external and formal type of transaction, quite inappropriate in the matter of our spiritual standing before God.
This objection would be to considerable extent valid if our relationship with Christ were this detached and he were quite aloof from us. It would be as if a total stranger paid the fine of a convicted criminal.
But such is not the case with believers for we are actually united with Christ. As we will see even more completely when we examine the doctrine of justification, the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and of what was accomplished by the atonement, is not an arm's-length transaction. Rather, it is a matter of two, Christ and the believer, becoming ONE in the sight of God. Hence, Paul is able to speak of the believer's having died with Christ and having made alive with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4).
It is as if, with respect to one's spiritual status, a new entity has come into being. It is as if CHrist and I have been married, or have merged to for a new corporation. Thus, the imputation of his righteousness is not so much a matter of transferring something from one person to another, as it is a matter of bringing the two together, so that they hold all things in common.
In Christ I died on the cross, and in him I was resurrected. Thus, his death is not merely in my place, but with me.
____________
Jon:(Hi, Nick!)
ReplyDeleteNick: LOL!
Jon: Hence, Paul is able to speak of the believer's having died with Christ and having made alive with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4).
Nick: What is funny is that I would agree with this, but I would note this view of justification is described as an inner transformation, not a legal event and via imputation. Instead, your dead soul literally was given life, and that is the heart of justification. That's why in Rom 6:7 Paul uses the Greek word for "justify" and uses it to mean "freed from sin" in the spiritual sense.
Jon: "It is as if, with respect to one's spiritual status, a new entity has come into being. It is as if CHrist and I have been married, or have merged to for a new corporation. Thus, the imputation of his righteousness is not so much a matter of transferring something from one person to another, as it is a matter of bringing the two together, so that they hold all things in common."
Nick: I would be more comfortable with this example, but I also see it moving away from imputation and especially a purely forensic view of justification.
Jon: "In Christ I died on the cross, and in him I was resurrected. Thus, his death is not merely in my place, but with me."
Nick: But I see "in my place" and "with me" as mutually exclusive. I see it as Christ becoming the Life-Giving Vine, and we truly receiving His life in us.